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What is witchcraft? | ||
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Smith's Bible Dictionary
defines witchcraft, a form of divination, as follows:
"...'foretelling future events, or discovering things secret by the aid of superior beings, or other than human means.' It is used in Scripture of false systems of ascertaining the divine will. It has been universal in all ages, and all nations alike civilized and savage. Numerous forms of divination are mentioned, such as divination by rods, Hos. 4:12; divination by arrows, Ezek. 21:21; divination by cups, Gen. 44:5; consultation of teraphim, 1Sa 15:23; Ezek. 21:21; Zech. 10:2 [TERAPHIM]; divination by the liver, Ezek. 21:21; divination by dreams, Deut. 13:2,3; Judges 7:13; Jer. 23:32; consultation of oracles, Isa. 41:21-24; 44:7." |
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What
does
God say about witchcraft and the occult? |
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It is an abomination! | When thou art come into the land which
the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do
after the abominations of those nations. There shall not
be found among you any one that maketh his son or his
daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth
divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a
witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar
spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that
do these things are an abomination unto the LORD... (Deuteronomy
18:9-12 KJV) |
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It is like
being a prostitute! |
I will set my face against the person
who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself
by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.
(Leviticus 20:6 NIV) |
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It prevents peace! |
And it came about, when Joram saw Jehu,
that he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?" And he answered, "What
peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel
and her witchcrafts are so many?" (2 Kings 9:22
NASB) |
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It is a sin! | For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (1 Samuel 15:23 KJV) | |
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Why is
God against witchcraft and the occult? |
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It causes people to be defiled! | Don't turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don't seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God. (Leviticus 19:31 WEB) | |
It draws them away from the living God! | Here am I, and the children the LORD has
given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD
Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion. When men tell
you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and
mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why
consult the dead on behalf of the living? (Isaiah
8:18-19 NIV) |
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It brings death to those
who indulge in it! |
So Saul died for his trespass which he
committed against the LORD, because of the word of the
LORD which he did not keep; and also because he asked
counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it (1
Chronicles 10:13 NASB) |
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Smith's Bible Dictionary
continues: "Moses forbade every species of divination,
because a prying into the future clouds the mind with
superstition, and because it would have been an
incentive to idolatry. But God supplied his people with
substitutes for divination which would have rended it
superfluous, and left them in no doubt as to his will in
circumstances of danger, had they continued faithful. It
was only when they were unfaithful that the revelation
was withdrawn." The following examples are given:
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God refused to answer Saul
because Saul was unfaithful as king. |
When Saul saw the Philistine army, he
was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of
the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or
Urim or prophets. (1 Samuel 28:6 NASB) |
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God told David where to go
to be annointed as king of Israel. |
In the course of time, David inquired of
the LORD. "Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?" he
asked. The LORD said, "Go up." David asked, "Where shall I
go?" "To Hebron," the LORD answered. (2 Samuel 2:1
NIV) |
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God led David to victory over the Philistines when David inquired of God. | ...David inquired of the LORD, and he
answered, "Do not go straight up, but circle around behind
them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.
As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of
the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the
LORD has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine
army." So David did as the LORD commanded him, and
he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to
Gezer. (2 Samuel 5:23-25 NIV) |
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What was the penalty for witchcraft under the Old Testament? | ||
God would turn against them and cut them off. | As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. (Leviticus 20:6 NASB) | |
Death. |
A man also or woman that hath a familiar
spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death:
they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be
upon them. (Leviticus 20:27 KJV) |
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People were driven out of
their land to make room for Israel. |
Let no one be found among you who
sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices
divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in
witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or
spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these
things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these
detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out
those nations before you. You must be blameless before the
LORD your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to
those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you,
the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.
(Deuteronomy 18:10-14 NIV) |
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Israel was driven out of
her land because of many things including the occult. |
Woe to the bloody city! it is all full
of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not; The noise of
a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and
of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots. The
horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the
glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a
great number of carcases; and there is none end of their
corpses; they stumble upon their corpses: Because of the
multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the
mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her
whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
(Nahum 3:1-4 KJV) |
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Therefore do not listen to your
prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers,
or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, "You shall
not serve the king of Babylon." For they prophesy a lie to
you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive
you out, and you will perish. (Jeremiah 27:9-10
NKJV) |
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What is the penalty for witchcraft under the New Testament? | ||
You forfeit your
inheritance in the kingdom of God. |
The acts of the sinful nature are
obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits
of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy;
drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did
before, that those who live like this will not inherit the
kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:19-25 NIV) |
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You will perish in
deception because you did not receive the love of the
truth. |
And then the lawless one will be
revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of
His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working
of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and
with all unrighteous deception among those who perish,
because they did not receive the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. And for this reason God will send
them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
that they all may be condemned who did not believe the
truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2
Thessalonians 2:8-12 NKJV) |
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You build up wrath for
your judgment. |
But according to your hardness and
unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath
in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous
judgment of God; who "will pay back to everyone according
to their works:" (Romans 2:5-6 WEB) |